SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood MLA was present for the first stage of a formal legal challenge to Brexit in Belfast’s High Court yesterday.
Mr Eastwood said that the challenge, brought in his name with other local politicians, was a key part of the SDLP’s pledge to use every legal and parliamentary mechanism at its disposal to ensure that the will of people in the North is respected.
Speaking outside the High Court,Mr Eastwood said:
“In the early hours of 24th June it became clear that the people of Northern Ireland had voted decisively to defend and retain our membership of the European Union.
“Our people, like the people of Scotland, have chosen a different path than those in England and Wales.
“That’s why the SDLP has pledged to use every legal and parliamentary mechanism at our disposal to defend their decision.
“The beginning of a formal legal challenge today is a key part of that pledge.
“The bespoke constitutional arrangements in the North have been underpinned by referenda and international treaties.
“No one has a veto over those instruments and any attempt to change that dispensation without the consent of our people is unacceptable,” added the Foyle MLA.
